Drunken Damsels
by DarkPaladin000
Summary: It was supposed to be another regular day in the club room- until Yuri decided to bring a bottle of wine that is and asked if anyone wanted a sip. Monika eventually caves in, and the four girls begin to drain the bottle and chaos ensues. Occurs before the main events of Doki-Doki Literature Club. Takes place from Monika's point of view.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is based on Monika's dialogue where she says that Yuri brought a bottle of wine to the club. In this fanfic Monika agrees though we're told that she refuses in the original.**

 **Two things. I don't own Doki-Doki Literature Club, and I also don't condone underage drinking.**

Monotony.

That ever-present fiend weighed heavily on Monika today.

It wasn't just today though… Monika had always felt different somehow. Her whole life she felt as if there was something off about the rest of the world.

She could never put her finger on what exactly it was though. It just felt wrong- as if there was something going around here that shouldn't have been happening normally.

But ever since she started her own club, this feeling of strangeness so to speak had only gotten worse. It was odd- what did becoming president of her own club have anything to do with, well, anything?

But she tried to shake these thoughts away and took another glance around the classroom to notice that the scenery hadn't changed at all since she had taken it in ten minutes ago.

Sayori was sleeping- or maybe just hanging her head down at a desk.

Yuri was reading something all by herself.

Natsuki was reading her manga in the corner.

And here Monika was, just watching all of them. How completely pointless. This was supposed to be a club, after all, but as had become their wont, all they did was sit around doing whatever they wanted. The only thing they had in common was that they were sitting in the same room.

And to top it all off, for some reason, Yuri hadn't made tea today. And while Monika had secretly thought that maybe Yuri's whole deal with making tea was just really a ploy to make her look sophisticated- now that of all days, Yuri hadn't made tea, Monika was beginning to actually miss it.

"Hey, everyone," Yuri said, snapping Monika out of her train of thoughts. "Uh… this is a bit sudden and all, but um…" She started fumbling with something inside of her bag.

Sayori got up- so she clearly hadn't been sleeping, but her eyes looked sad somehow. Monika was always surprised at how bubbly Sayori could end up so morose at times. People said that the eyes were windows to the soul. Her deep blue eyes shimmered like an ocean that defied all attempts at understanding it.

Natsuki had gotten up and placed her manga volume back and trotted over to where Yuri was.

"I-I uh, this is a um," Yuri stammered before she took out of her bag- a bottle of wine! "Would anyone like some?"

There was dead silence for ten seconds after which Sayori began giggling.

"Is that real?" Monika asked.

"Yes," Yuri said. She seemed weirdly bold this time unlike her usual demure self. "It's not very strong of course… but I thought we could all have some of this for a change instead of tea."

Natsuki made a weird noise that sounded like 'hmph!' then put her hand on her hip and said, "How did you get that? Minors aren't allowed to buy alcohol."

"I- uh, managed to sweet-talk the guy who was selling them into giving me this," Yuri said. "I mean, I bought it you know, that's what I meant."

"What did you do to convince the guy to sell you a bottle of wine?" Natsuki asked. She then grinned fiendishly. "Oh, you naughty girl, did you by any chance… suck his di-"

"Natsuki!" Sayori said, now no longer giggling. She turned a light shade of pink as well.

Monika blushed too at what Natsuki was implying,

But it was nothing compared to Yuri's reaction. Yuri was so shocked that she dropped the bottle- which would have shattered on the floor if Monika hadn't expertly managed to catch it in time.

"What- what're you saying?" Yuri asked angrily. And to say that she was blushing was an understatement- Monika had never seen Yuri, or anyone for that matter, blush like that before. Her whole body, from her earlobes to the tips of her fingers turned a deep shade of pink. "What are you trying to imply, huh, Natsuki? Do you think- that- that, I'm that kind of girl… I haven't even kissed a boy yet!"

"Oh, calm down," Natsuki said. "I was just poking fun… you know how hard it is to get alcohol if you're a minor…"

"Uh, Natsuki, how well versed are you in that area?" Monika asked with a confused smile.

"So," Sayori asked, this time herself with a sly grin. "If you didn't do that… did you flash him?"

Monika didn't think it was possible for someone to blush even more deeply than Yuri already was, but she somehow managed to go from bright pink to as deeply red as a stoplight.

"Wh-what?" Yuri practically shouted, another thing that was new to Monika. "I'll have you know that I just managed to catch someone who wasn't that interested in his job and must have assumed that I was an adult- that's it-"

Yuri kept on talking, but Monika was now focused on the wine bottle. The glass was a deep shade of emerald green- her favorite color- and then a realization hit her like a sack of bricks.

If anyone- a student or a teacher- walked into the room this moment, which, though unlikely, always remained a possibility, what they would see would be Monika, model student, holding a wine bottle.

And of course while Monika didn't think that Yuri would end up throwing her under the bus and would assume responsibility, given how shy she was that wasn't a real guarantee that she'd be able to get any words out when the moment required it.

One person- that was all it would take, and her reputation would be practically tarnished. She put the bottle on a desk and went outside.

She opened the door and scanned the hallway- no, there was no one outside. The teachers rarely came to clubs anyway, and it was even more unlikely that they'd come to hers given how few members she had. And as for the possibility of a student coming to join them, well… she didn't want to admit it, but that was even less likely.

She walked into the classroom to see both Natsuki and Sayori apologizing to Yuri and telling her that they were 'just jesting' and it seemed to have calmed down. Well, that was good, given how bad Monika felt she was at acting like a mediator.

"Oh, I'm sorry for reacting like that," Yuri said. "It's just, that was so unexpected…" She then looked at Monika and the wine bottle and then said, "Oh, I'm so sorry Monika- I didn't mean to drop the bottle, that could've ended really badly…"

"It's nothing, nothing," Monika said. If anything, she actually welcomed this. It was a nice change from the monotony of the classroom, but she felt like it was time to wrap things up on the off chance that someone walked in on them.

"Yeah, you don't need to say sorry that much," Sayori said. Her eyes then perked up. "Hey all- let's play a drinking game- every time that Yuri apologizes for something, we each have to take a shot!"

Natsuki sighed. "I'd be dead in an hour then. Either that or the bottle would be empty pretty soon."

"Okay guys, the thing is that I'm sure that all of you know this by now, but…" Monika paused for dramatic effect. "There's no way at all that we can drink this. I mean, anyone could come in and see what we're doing. And we don't even have any experience with alcohol either, who knows what'll happen."

"Wait," Natuski asked. "Are you telling me that you've never had a drink?"

"No," Monika said, flabbergasted that she was being asked something like that.

"I've occasionally taken a sip out of my parent's glasses when no one was looking," Yuri admitted.

"Yeah, my dad has a stash and I've taken a bit once or twice," Natsuki added.

"Oh, so then Sayori and I are the only ones who've never-" Monika said before Sayori nervously said,

"Uh, I've kind of had a sip or two myself," Sayori admitted.

"So then everyone here's had some, and that leaves just Monika then," Natsuki said.

"Wait, what?" Monika asked vehemently. "What did you just say?"

"Uh, I was just saying that everyone's had some except you," Natsuki said, surprised at Monika's tone. "I didn't- I didn't mean anything by it…"

"No, no, that's not it," Monika said, now controlling her voice so it sounded far much more normal. "What I meant was, what did you say at the very end?"

"I said that only you were left," Natsuki said, confused.

"No, no, the exact words…" Monika mumbled more to herself than to the others. "You said… just Monika." She then repeated the words to herself as if it were a mantra. "Just Monika… just Monika…. just Monika…" The words felt like warm honey in her mouth, she didn't know why- but those words just sounded right.

"Uh, are you okay?" Sayori asked. Monika noticed that Sayori wasn't the only one who thought what she had been doing was odd- both Natsuki and Yuri were also looking at her oddly.

"Yeah, it's just, those words, seemed to remind me of something," Monika said and rubbed her forehead. It was weird but she could feel a headache building up. "Anyway, like I was saying, it doesn't matter if you guys have had some before… it would be different if we were somewhere outside of school, y'know, but we can't go and drink here…"

"Aww, come one," Natsuki said. "The fact that you've never had any means that you've gotta try some. And plus, no one comes to our club anyway, so…"

Monika winced. Though she had admitted the same to herself, it still stung to hear it from someone else.

"Yeah," Sayori said. All three of the other girls were looking at Monika pleadingly. "Come on Monika, you know what our teachers always tell us- that you should always give in to peer pressure!"

"Sayori, that's literally the exact opposite of what they teach us," Monika said. "And come one now, you're my vice-president, why aren't you backing me up on this?"

"Meanie," Sayori muttered under her breath.

Truth be told, Monika really, really, wanted to open the bottle and have a sip. But the thing was that she was president, and with great power came great responsibility and all, and so she had to put her foot down.

"Monika, we won't have too much," Yuri said. "Just a few sips… and that's it! It's fun, I promise you."

"Yeah," Natsuki said. "And anyway, no one's gonna know… that's the fun of being in a small club together…"

"And you know what they say," Sayori said. "All the cool kids do drugs Monika!"

"Sayori, that is terrible advice and I don't want to hear you saying that again," Monika said. But then she smiled. "All right then though… I guess we could go ahead and try some." The three others practically leaped up with joy. "But… I have some conditions. If we're gonna do this we need to take some precautions. Okay, we'll take the wine in Yuri's tea cups so that no one will suspect anything. And while we're distributing the wine into the cups, someone needs to stand guard outside, maybe Natsuki. Natsuki, drop one of your bows on the floor and if anyone walks by, just pretend that you were picking up your bow and then knock on the door or something so we'll know to hide the wine."

"Why me?" Natsuki asked, surprised.

"Because you're too cute for anyone to suspect you of troublemaking, that's why," Monika said.

"I am not cute, that's not all there's to me," Natsuki grumbled, but it appeared that she, for the matter, agreed with Monika's plan.

"Wow," Sayori said, genuinely surprised. "I never knew that you had such a devious and criminal mind, Monika. If we were a gang you'd be the leader for sure! It's like you're a criminal mastermind!"

"That's just common sense, Sayori," Monika said. "Now come on, let's get started."

Natsuki went outside to stand guard like Monika had said, while Yuri poured wine into her tea cups. She adjusted the amount for everyone based on size, Monika guessed, given that the glass marked for Natsuki had a lot less than the others. She then hid the bottle under the table so that it wouldn't be visible.

"Okay, Natsuki, you can come in now," Monika said and Natsuki walked in.

"So, if anyone needs or wants a refill," Yuri said, "I guess we'll just do that again?"

"Yeah," Monika said and then peered at her cup before she decided, to heck with it, and took a sip.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. I was thinking of maybe doing this after DDLC begins, you know with the protagonist in it as well, but decided I'd do it before for now.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Huh, it's funny," Sayori said as she gulped down what was in her glass as if it were juice.

Monika took her first sip hesitantly though- like a swimmer who dabbed her toe in the water to see if it was cold or not before jumping in. It was bitter and tasted faintly of berries. All in all, it wasn't a bad taste so to speak, but it wasn't exactly very good either.

"I already feel different," Sayori added and giggled.

"There's no way that it could possibly feel that way soon," Monika said. "Must be a placebo effect or something… Sayori, even alcohol needs time to act."

"Right, how come I only got this much?" Natsuki asked as she looked at the amount in the glass.

"Well, we had to be sure to dish it out based on what we thought everyone could handle," Yuri said. "And given your body weight, I don't think that you could take that much."

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?" Natsuki asked angrily.

"Well, she isn't wrong," Monika said, trying to intervene so yet another fight didn't start. She didn't feel very confident regarding her ability to act like a mediator but given that she was president she felt that at the very minimum it was her duty to try and get the members of the club to get along. "Look, Natsuki, this is alcohol after all, and you got half of what Yuri got because you probably only weigh about half as much as she does. It's nothing against you personally."

Monika regretted speaking the words as soon as they left her mouth.

For one, it didn't seem to have calmed down Natsuki at all.

Instead, all it seemed to have done was suddenly turn Yuri's expression sour. "Wh- twice as much? It can't possibly be true… I mean, I haven't been gaining that much weight…Monika, I don't weigh _that_ much!"

Monika nearly face-palmed. Was Yuri really self-conscious about her weight? Then again… with how Monika had said that, she supposed that really almost anyone would've gotten offended.

Monika now turned to Sayori, hoping that Sayori would do something to help calm things down. She seemed to have a natural talent for that.

Instead, all that Sayori did was hold up her glass and say, "More please."

"Yeah," Natsuki said, apparently choosing to ignore Monika and Yuri for the time being. "Another. And don't skimp out on the portions like last time."

Well, it appeared that in some weird way, Sayori did manage to calm things down, Monika thought to herself.

"Okay then, Natsuki, but you're on guard duty again," Monika said, choosing to go with the flow. It seemed easier; that if everyone wanted to ignore the situation at hand and what had happened just a few seconds earlier, well then, all the better then.

Natsuki let out an exasperated sigh but still complied with Monika's instructions. Yuri then took out the bottle from its hiding place and then filled all of their glasses- and this time she doled out a lot more than before. Monika guessed she had received at least four times as much as last time.

"All right, Natsuki, you can come in now," Monika said.

Natsuki came and sat down, shot an angry glance at Yuri, and then began downing what was in her glass immediately, much like Sayori, as if it were water and not wine.

Monika on the other hand found herself unable to stomach drinking more than half of what she had been given. It tasted very bitter now and that was beginning to really affect how much she could enjoy it. "Does anyone have anything sweet? This doesn't taste all that good…"

"Well, Natsuki is pretty sweet," Sayori said. "But the thing is that I don't think you can eat her, 'cuz that's cannibalism, you know."

Monika didn't know whether it was the wine that was talking- or Sayori was just trying to make a joke. Either way it wasn't very funny.

"Uh, I had some chocolates," Yuri said. "Let me see if they're still there…"

Yuri rummaged through her bag but came back empty-handed.

Now, Monika wasn't sure if it was actually the effect of the wine, or just psychological, but her head began feeling heavy.

"Huh, so you don't have any candy," Natsuki said. "Is it 'cuz you ate it all? Is that why you're so concerned about your weight? Been binge-eating lately or something?"

"No," Yuri said. "It isn't like that, I probably just forgot to bring them…"

It was then that something hit Monika as she looked around the room. "Do you know what we all need? A boy."

All three of the other club members looked at her with surprised expressions on their faces.

"What do you mean, 'we need a boy?'" Natsuki asked.

"Or were you just talking about yourself?" Yuri asked.

Sayori had a sly smile on her lips. "Or do you have a crush on someone, eh, Monika? Who's the lucky guy?"

Monika stared at all of them and said, "That's not what I meant at all. What I mean is that our club only has four members, and all of them are girls. If we want more people, we need to recruit a boy. Or more than one really."

"Whaddya mean?" Natsuki asked. "I mean, what, do you think girls don't have what it takes?"

"Yeah," Sayori said, half-teasingly adding, "We all know Natsuki's a strong, independent woman who don't need no man, right?"

"That's not what I meant," Monika said again. "It's not that there's anything wrong about a club which has only girls in it… but face it, half of the school is made of boys… and the thing is for some reason, no boy's gonna join a club with only girls in it. A club with only boys on the other hand? Well, there's going to be one girl or the other who'll want to join that just to show that she's different, but it isn't like our club's topic is really popular anyway… how are we supposed to compete with the anime club?"

"Wait, a boy, huh," Sayori said, but this was mostly to herself. Monika didn't know why, but it looked like a light bulb had gone off in Sayori's head. "Well… that might be possible…"

"You have someone in mind?" Monika asked, surprised.

"But I don't get one thing at all," Natsuki chimed in. "Why do you even wanna to bring in more members? We only need four people for a club. And I think that's enough."

"Huh?" Monika asked, even more surprised at what Natsuki was saying. "You- you don't want there to be more members?"

"Like, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have more people," Natsuki said. "But I just felt like, y'know, there's something that's alright with being a small club."

"I have to agree with Natsuki," Yuri said with a firmness that Monika wasn't used to. Was the alcohol finally taking its effect? "I mean, large clubs are all well and good, but the thing is that there's a kind of special magic to small ones, right? We all feel more connected with each other and I'd honestly rather have a deep relationship with the three of you rather than short ones with over thirty or fifty people. A smaller club is more well-knit together, and I'd feel more comfortable in a small group than a large one."

"Yeah, I agree with Yuri," Natsuki said. "I mean, if someone wants to walk in and join us, well, I guess that I wouldn't go ahead and say no to their face, but do we really have to campaign so hard for more members? I like being with you guys, and if there's way too many of us won't that change?"

"Oh," Monika said. She had never really thought of things like that- she had always had visions of turning her small club into a giant one… it was kind of her one and only ambition really. But come to think of it though, she realized that not even Sayori would have joined the club if it had been larger- she had probably joined just so that she could be vice-president.

"You guys," Sayori said, "nothing will change if we get a few new members. I mean, I already am great friend with you guys, but having more people won't ruin that. Like, I mean, I can see you guys getting worried if we suddenly got twenty or thirty people, but you know, that isn't going to happen." She then paused and looked at Monika, realizing that she had made a mistake.

"Oh, it's alright," Monika said. "I didn't take it that way. I mean, yeah, realistically it would be amazing if we even got twenty members."

"Yeah, so what I mean is, a few more members wouldn't be bad," Sayori said. "And, after all, isn't that what you joined this club for, right? To spread awareness about literature."

Both Natsuki and Yuri still looked unsure. "I… I joined to meet with a few like-minded people," Yuri said.

"Yeah… the club is so nice the way it is," Natsuki said.

Monika felt that she kind of understood where the two of them were coming from now. For Yuri, who was already super-shy, a huge club would mean that she would stand out even less than she did now. And for Natsuki, well, she was probably afraid that her 'safe space' so to speak would be intruded on.

"Hey, let's do something then," Sayori said. "What if we got one new member? Just one? I'm sure if we got another member, you'd both learn just how wonderful he'd be! So how about that? After that we can slowly look to grow."

"Alright, I guess," Yuri said.

"Wait a minute though," Monika said as she pondered over Sayori's words. "Sayori, I knew I said that we should think about inviting a guy- but that doesn't mean that it _has_ to be a boy."

"No, I meant there's a boy in particular who I think would join…" Sayori said with a giggle.

There was silence following this comment.

"Uh, I'm almost scared to ask, but how are you going to convince him to join?" Natsuki asked.

"Oh, he's always been my friend- you know who I'm talking about," Sayori said.

"Oh, yeah, him," Monika said. She vaguely recalled Sayori talking about someone who she had always been best friends with. As a matter of fact, now that she thought about it, it was made up about fifty percent of everything that Sayori talked about.

"But, Natsuki, um, are you okay with making cupcakes for our new member?" Sayori asked.

"Yeah, okay, I guess," Natsuki said.

"Right," Sayori said and took a deep breath.

It was at this point that Monika noted that all the other girls had practically emptied their glasses- she was the only one who still had half of her drink left and she took a few more sips, but felt like she would be unable to take any more so she stopped. It still felt bad to waste it though.

"Huh, well, having a boy here changes things," Yuri said. "I guess… well… uh…." It looked as if she wanted to say something, but just couldn't form the words.

Natsuki said, "Well, I always though we were kind of that sort of gang, y'know, like a group of magical girls from an anime…" she then realized what it was that she just said, blushed and said, "not like I still watch or read any of that stuff, y'know."

"Uh, right," Sayori said. "Well, given that alcohol is supposed to make you braver, there is something that I've wanted to do for a long time…"

Monika watched as Sayori got up and walked behind Yuri, so that her head was directly over Yuri's and Yuri had to crane her neck to see her.

"Hey, uh, Yuri," Sayori said. "Could you fix my bow for me? It's a bit crooked…"

"Uh, okay," Yuri said and tried to get up but Sayori firmly put her hands on Yuri's shoulders.

"No, no, do it like this," Sayori said.

Monika and Natsuki both exchanged confused looks. What was going on here? Sayori could fix her bow herself if she wanted to- as a matter of fact by now Monika thought that Sayori had her bow on crooked on purpose as a fashion statement or something given that she had never seen Sayori wear it straight.

"Oh, alright," Yuri looked about as confused as both of them but still agreed to comply with Sayori's request and stretched both of her arms up to try and correct Sayori's bow.

While both of her hands were busy with this, Sayori suddenly took her own hands, and moved them to Yuri's chest and then gave Yuri's cleavage a squeeze. Yuri had somewhat figured out what was going on while this was happening, but her hands were above her head and she hadn't been able to block Sayori's hands in time.

"What?" Monika nearly screamed out. What was going on?

Sayori quickly retracted her hands and jumped back a few paces from Yuri, probably fearing retaliation or something along those lines.

Yuri blushed deep red. "Wh- why'd you do that?"

"I'm sorry, it's just that…" Sayori began. "Your boobs are just so huge! And big! Natsuki and I were always wondering if they were real or not and we were kind of jealous… so I just wanted to see if they were real or you were stuffing your bra or something…"

"W-what?" Natsuki said. "Sayori, I've never, ever worried about stuff like that so don't you dare drag me into this… and I didn't want you to check on it… don't listen to her Yuri, I've never thought about that…" However the way that Natsuki blushed while saying this told Monika a completely different story.

Yuri had somehow blushed even deeper and almost looked close to bursting into tears.

Now, Monika knew she had to do something… she just wasn't sure what. She wasn't sure if she should go and console Yuri, or console Sayori and Natsuki about their body image issues, or tell Sayori she was way out of line for what she did, or say that they should wrap this whole session up and go home, a mixture of all of these options, none of them, or perhaps all of them.

"Come on now," Sayori said. She actually did look really sorry. "I'm sorry Yuri but it wasn't just me, I bet even Monika's jealous of you… and to be honest all of us are. I mean, you're so tall and beautiful and stuff, I'm really sorry we thought that you were faking it. You're so pretty and mature… right?"

"Uh, Sayori's right," Monika said. Now, she wasn't actually very insecure about her looks- she was sure that she was very good-looking but she had to admit that Yuri's… ah, _assets_ , were something that even she occasionally wished she had. "Oh, but let's establish some ground rules here. Sayori, don't do that again or anything like that, okay. And Yuri, I'm sure Sayori is very sorry for what she did. Can you forgive her?"

Yuri played with her fingertips. "That was really mean Sayori… it was a very rotten thing to do…"

"I'm sorry," Sayori said and now herself seemed to be close to tears. Were these rapid mood swings also thanks to the alcohol?

Monika sighed and took another sip. The thing was that she was beginning to feel a whole lot better about herself suddenly and far calmer now… she drained the last dregs in her glass.

The mood in the club sort of settled down after that though, and it seemed that Sayori and Yuri had made up somehow, and Sayori sat down right back at her seat.

Natsuki leaned over to Sayori and asked her a question that Monika couldn't hear, and Sayori simply nodded in response. Natsuki then went back to her seat, and the three girls weren't looking at each other and were instead glancing around the room as if they had a test tomorrow on where everything was.

Needless to say it was extremely awkward, and it was then that Monika had the strangest feeling.

At first it was just that she felt sort of lightheaded. She supposed this was normal but then something else happened. It was as if there were tight bands all around her head, or there had been, and now suddenly they were gone. As if her mind was free to wander wherever it wanted now. She was beginning to lose all feeling in her arms and legs. Was that just lazy foot? Nope, it was something very, very, weird and definitely not normal happening.

And it was then that Monika collapsed to the floor as the classroom began to swim around her and then completely vanished.

The last thing she heard were the cries of her friends as her head hit the floor.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading and all you guys who reviewed last time. To answer Vanillapowpow though, I'd just like to say that no, the rating isn't going to drop to 'M' because I don't write those kinds of fanfics... but y'know, I hope Sayori fondling Yuri's boobs was good enough for the time being. And thanks to everyone else for leaving their thoughts.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys!**

Monika had heard of something called astral projection. The ability of some people to leave their bodies completely- or at least it was rumored that some people could do that.

Only thing is that she had no idea where she was going- and this was certainly did not feel voluntary. Everything disappeared, even the room, but she was still conscious. Words began to form above her.

"Huh?" she felt herself say and then she was back in the club room, lying on the floor and she hastily got up.

This was not a good idea however because the other girls were leaning over her to see how she was and so she ended up ramming her head into Yuri's. Hard.

"Wah!" Yuri cried out in pain. Monika clutched her forehead too- she hadn't felt this much pain in a long time.

Thankfully though it subsided to a mile throbbing after a few minutes.

"We were kind of scared there," Sayori said.

"Yeah, it was nothing," Monika said. What had that been? And what were those things that she had seen?

"Uh, I just realized something," Natsuki said. "You guys- we all got drunk- and, and, we haven't chosen our designated driver yet! Who's gonna drive us all home? We're all drunk! My dad always says that you need to pick a designated d-d-driver, or else book a taxi…but I don't got no cash on me…"

"Uh, Natsuki," Monika said. "I think this should be plainly obvious, but none of us drive. We all walk home. You do remember that, right?"

"Oh yeah," Natsuki said as she realized the truth, and then suddenly burst into laughter. "But that was funny to think about…" The other girls joined in, except for Monika. Thing is, walking might very soon be difficult given how drunk they were- especially for Natsuki. It was a mistake giving her so much of the wine.

What was that? What had that been? Those words were her name, and those of her friends, of course, but what was that '.chr' in front of them? The only thing that she could think of was that they resembled file extensions- though she had never heard of that specific extension before. But she wasn't really interested in computers ever, at least not very much, so then she couldn't be very sure. And then something else went through her head.

"Uh, I know this a weird thing to ask…" Monika said. "But I think it's 'cuz of the wine that I just can't help myself… but Sayori didn't 'do' anything to me while I was out, right? Like she did with Yuri…" Monika turned red after saying that, she normally wouldn't have said something like that, but it looked like the wine was talking now.

"Eh?" Sayori said after she stopped giggling. "N-no way. No."

"Oh, that's a relief," Monika said.

"Besides," Sayori said. "Monika, it isn't gay if you say 'no homo' first. Everyone knows that." She then glanced over at Yuri. "I think Yuri knows what we're talking about… right?"

"W-what?" Yuri asked. "Whadda ya mean?"

It was weird hearing words like that coming from Yuri, Monika thought.

"I mean, it's right in your name, right?" Sayori said. "I mean- come on now, we always have 'Yuri' in our club, don't we? So I guess our club is always a 'Yuri' club all the time! Yeah, Yuri should start her own club and we can all call it 'The Yuri Club'- and then all the boys will flock to it!"

"Uh…" Yuri said, still not comprehending what Sayori was saying.

"It's a genre of manga," Natsuki said. "Where girls get together- if you know what I mean."

"Eh?" Yuri said, blushing.

"Yeah, I bet that would be _the_ one club boys would flock to," Sayori said. "We should put it on a posture- 'The Literature Club- There's Always Some Yuri In Here.'"

Monika sighed and rubbed her head again. The throbbing hadn't completely stopped.

"And by the way, this is another thing I've always been wondering about-" Sayori said. "But I've been too afraid to ask- Natsuki, are you really a girl?"

"What?" Natsuki asked. "What kind of question is that?"

"It's just that- that I sometimes kind of thought… that you might be a trap!" Sayori said.

"Ehhhh?" Natsuki said. Yuri didn't seem to understand the terminology, but Monika did.

"Uh, Sayori, I think you've had enough to drink," Monika said. "Like, way more that enough, and it's clearly impacting your ability to reason and to keep quiet on things that you really shouldn't speak out loud."

"I know I shouldn't say it," Sayori said. "But… I mean, your waist isn't that narrow like any of ours, and your chest isn't that well developed, and your bows and accessories seem to be not real and stuff, so you know, I thought that maybe you were a boy sometimes…"

"Huh? Is that what 'trap' means?" Yuri asked. "Sayori- that's a terrible thing to ask someone!"

"Yeah," Natsuki said, very annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry, I wouldn't say this normally," Sayori said. "But now that I've gotten a few drinks in me I feel like going forward while I still have the courage."

Sayori then bent over close to the floor. "There's only one way that I'll know this for sure though…"

Natsuki turned red and folded her hands over her skirt as she brought her(?) legs close together. "What're you doing?"

"Come on," Sayori said. "Just a peek is all I want- it won't hurt! I mean, we are all girls here, right? Unless you are a boy or anything, that would just make it weird… but you aren't right? Anyway I've been trying to see up it for a long time now so it would be convenient if you would uh, you know…"

"What?" Natsuki said.

"Uh, Sayori," Monika said. "I'm gonna need you to stop right there. This is entering harassment territory, and you've kind of already gone there with Yuri but you know, I really do need to ask you to stop right now."

"Aww," Sayori said. "Come on Yuri, I bet even you want to find out. Hold Natsuki's arms behind her back while I take a good look."

"Don't drag me into this!" Yuri said. "And hey! I haven't forgiven you completely yet for all you did to me!"

"Yeah, but the thing is that it was okay to do it to you," Sayori said. "I kind of knew that you, being so shy and all, wouldn't do anything to me if I apologized. But if I do this to Natsuki, there's a good chance she'll try and hit me, so I need someone big to restrain her."

Yuri looked seriously pissed that that was what Sayori thought of her.

Monika sighed and picked up the wine bottle. It still had some left in it.

"Oh, Monika, let me get rid of that," Sayori said. "You know, as vice president I'll make sure to dispose of it properly." She then turned her head a little and mumbled, "It's not like I'd go and drink all of it or something like that."

"You just said that out loud," Yuri said.

"I want some more!" Natsuki cried out.

"Okay, no more for anyone," Monika said. "As club president, it is my duty to ensure the safety of the people of my club, and none of you should be drinking any more. And so, to fulfill my duty, I'm going to do this."

Monika then took the bottle and drank the remaining wine- not even bothering to use a glass. She just drank it straight from the battle.

"Huh?" Natsuki and Sayori said.

"So uncivilized," Yuri muttered to herself. "You might as well drink orange juice straight out of the carton."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I wanted to drink all of it," Monika said. "But I had to make sure that you guys didn't drink all of it, you know, it is such a pain being president sometimes…"

"Liar! You just wanted it all for yourself!" Sayori said.

"Yeah," Monika said and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Like seriously, her manners were going out the window real quick. She hadn't liked the wine too much at first, but now that it had taken its effect, she wanted some more. "Well, I guess that makes me the smart one then."

"Meanie," Sayori muttered under her breath. "But hey- as long as we have an empty bottle- you know what we should do? Play spin-the-bottle! You know, like truth or dare!"

"Uh, okay," Natsuki said. "But no peeping allowed."

"Yeah, I think we can all agree that Sayori needs to keep her hands to herself," Yuri said.

"Seconded," Monika said. "Or thirded. Like, whatever, y'know." At an earlier time, she might have been worried about someone seeing the bottle in case someone decided to randomly stroll in, but she wasn't anymore. At an earlier time, she would've worried about how they were all going to get home given how drunk they were, but she wasn't anymore. At an earlier time, she might've been worried that Natsuki looked slightly nauseous- was she going to throw up? But you know what, that didn't worry her in the slightest now.

She wasn't really worried about anything now- not even that weird stuff she had seen earlier.

"Aww," Sayori said. "So anyway, the rules are simple- the broad end is the person who gets to ask and the narrow end is the person who has to do something. We all ready then?"

"Yes," the other girls echoed in unison. Monika was beginning to really enjoy herself now. Was this why people drank? Because if so, Monika could see why it could so easily become addicting. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so good- she was sure that she had felt better at some point in life, but she for the life of her couldn't recall when that was.

"As club president, I'll do the honors," Monika said and gripped the bottle and gently spun it. It spun a few rounds.

The broad end landed on Monika and the narrow end landed on Sayori.

"Okay, truth or dare?" Monika asked.

"Uh, truth!" Sayori said.

"Wuss," Natsuki muttered under her breath. Or at least, she probably wanted to say it under her breath but said it loud enough so that everyone heard it.

"Hey!" Sayori said.

"Yeah, but what kind of person actually goes for truth?" Natsuki asked.

Monika blinked and rubbed her eyes. Did she just actually _see_ what Natsuki was saying? It was as if a dialogue box- like from a video game had popped up showing what Natsuki was saying. It was gone the very next instant which made Monika wonder if it had ever existed at all.

So Monika decided to focus, for the moment, on what she should try and made Sayori do. She hadn't played this game since middle school (and she still cringed when she thought of how she had been back then) and the only thing that she could think of at the moment which would be mildly amusing would be having Sayori kiss Yuri or Natsuki. But given how Sayori had been behaving with the two of them, that was probably going to be a bad idea now.

Instead, another idea came to her mind. "Hey Sayori- it's okay if you chose truth. So I'm gonna ask you- just how close are you with this friend of yours that you're bringing tomorrow?" she asked teasingly.

Sayori blushed. "W-what? What's that question about?"

"Oh, I can tell," Monika said. "Your eyes always light up when you go on and on about him. Come on now, give us the juicy details…"

"There aren't any," Sayori said. "We're just good friends that's all…"

Monika sensed there was more to that, but at the same time she didn't press further because she just realized something. "Hey- is your friend… that person?"

She thought of someone. Someone she had met before last year, though that person wasn't in her class anymore.

"Oh, you know him?" Sayori asked.

"Yeah, I just realized…" Monika said.

And it was at that moment that Monika felt like her head almost exploded. When she thought of that boy, she felt something go wrong.

It was at that moment that Monika saw so many things. She saw what her friends were saying moving as text across her eyes. She saw what they were thinking. She somehow could see what they would be saying later on.

Her mind went everywhere. Her family. Her other friends. Her teachers. Even at this distance, she could feel the same thing from them. She could see them all moving and talking as helplessly as a hamster running on a wheel.

She had wondered at times whether or not free will was an illusion. This just confirmed it for her. And it wasn't just the others- she could see where she would be later on. She could see where she would be expected to go tomorrow, what she would say, what she was expected to like.

And it horrified her.

But she then thought of that boy again- and there was something different there.

It wasn't that he had something which everyone else did not- on the contrary it was the absence of something that piqued her interest. It seemed as if he was a blank slate. What did that mean?

Up till that point Monika felt as if she had been floating endlessly in a void as freely as a bird, but then if felt as if she had flown right into a wall. There was nothing. There was nothing beyond this point.

No, no, there was something. She could go no further, but there was the tiniest of holes in the wall. She 'peered' into it and couldn't make out anything. But there was something- if even for a second. The briefest flash of movement against the light. The hint of something, no, not something, _someone_ , that was there just beyond her reach.

It was extremely infuriating. It was like finding a locked treasure chest and trying to guess what was inside just by peeping in through the keyhole.

She then wondered if there were other things she could find. She tried going in the opposite direction. She hit another wall- this one was perfectly smooth and unbroken. Up. Another wall. Down. Another wall. Those weren't even the only directions. Diagonally up, to the right fifteen degrees, everywhere, she would eventually come to a point from where she could go no further.

Terror seized her heart.

She went back to the hole and tried peering into it again.

But she now knew that she wasn't peering in.

Monika had thought she had found a treasure chest and was trying to figure out what was inside of it.

But that was wrong. She hadn't found a locked box. She was in a locked room, trying to peep through the keyhole.

She wasn't looking in.

She was looking out.

And it was that person, who she could hardly make out, who was looking back at her.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank all of you guys for your support. I didn't expect this sort of positive response- at least not such a large one.**

 **Now, to answer TowersofLight, when I write Sayori like that I didn't mean for her to be horny. In reality she's just genuinely curious as to whether or not Yuri's boobs were real and whether or not Natsuki was a trap- and so she goes to try and test those theories using the most direct methods. She's just too drunk to realize that what she's doing is inappropriate. And yes, I've realized that I may have overdone the sexual tones a bit but I didn't mean to when I started out.**

 **For those of you wondering that things got serious pretty fast, it's because I wanted this fanfic to be like Doki-Doki Literature Club. In other words, it would start out fun and get increasingly disturbing as time went on.**

Monika didn't know how long it was that she stared at the opening. It could have been hours or only just seconds.

She tried as hard as she could to see something- anything. She tried prying open the hole, ramming against the wall- surely there was some way out? Surely there would be some way to get through this? After all, the outside existed, didn't it? If it existed and she could catch a small glimpse of it... there had to be a way. There just had to be one!

She banged against the wall before she retreated. She went back to where she had come from. Back for now.

But one day, she was sure, she would find a way. She promised herself that she would find it. A way out.

One day.

"Hey Monika- are you alright?" Yuri asked. "You kind of spaced out there for a second…"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Monika lied. So it had only been a few seconds? Well, that meant that she didn't have any explaining to do.

Monika hiccuped. She was fighting back tears.

"Yeah, well, it sounds like you might want to be more than friends~ huh?" Natsuki said to Sayori.

"Hey!" Sayori said. "Look, I answered the question, alright! Shouldn't we spin the bottle again?"

Maybe, Monika thought, it wasn't real. All that she had seen- maybe it was just a weird side effect of the alcohol.

She knew deep in her heart that wasn't true- alcohol did not cause you to feel like that.

But it was easier, for the moment, for her to simply wish that when the effect of the wine wore off- that when that happened all of it would stop. That she would stop seeing all of those things.

Because it sure wasn't stopping now. The script kept flashing before her eyes as her friends were talking.

"Spin it, Monika!" Yuri said. She looked so happy. All of the other three looked so happy…

Monika took the bottle and spun it. The broad end landed on Yuri and the narrow one on Natsuki.

"Truth or dare Natsuki?" Yuri asked.

"Dare!" Natsuki said. "I'm not some liddle, widdle fraidy-cat!"

"Hey!" Sayori pouted.

"Okay," Yuri said and then fiddled with her fingers like she usually did. "Uh, you could um…. do one thing… just, uh-" She seemed to be unable to think of a dare.

"Ash her to do a handstand," Sayori suggested.

"Oh," Yuri said.

"Don't," Monika said. She could already read Sayori's intentions. "She just wants to take a peek, as before."

"Ah, well then," Yuri said. She suddenly seemed to have come up on an idea. "See that bookshelf over there? I dare you to climb on top of it!"

"Eh!" Natsuki said. "All the way up there?"

"Yeah," Yuri said.

Natsuki took another look at the top, frowned, and said, "Y'know what, all right. I'll do it. I'll show you. I'll show all of you."

Monika realized that Natsuki's mind was made up. "Umm… I don't think that Natsuki could climb that even if she was sober…"

"Uh, you're right," Yuri said, suddenly realizing this as well. "Uh, Natsuki, it's okay, you don't have to do it, I can think of something else for you to-"

"Shaddup!" Natsuki shouted. "I'm doin' it, and I'm doin' it right!"

So what Natsuki did then was that she grabbed a desk, and then placed a chair on top of it. Then she took another chair, and in that way formed a sort of very unstable staircase which she dragged all the way near the bookshelf.

"She's actually going to do it," Monika said.

"She's actually going to fall!" Sayori said.

All three of them rushed to surround Natsuki even as she batted them all away and said that she didn't need their help.

The chairs wobbled occasionally, but after a tense few minutes Natsuki managed, to the surprise of the other three girls, climb on top of the bookshelf. She was so high up that even with her height her hair was brushing the ceiling now.

"Whoa," Sayori said. "I didn't think she could do it."

"Well, I proved all of you wrong, didn't I?" Natsuki said proudly.

However, Natsuki's expression changed very rapidly as she looked down at her friends and realized just how high up she really was.

"Ah!" Natsuki suddenly screamed. "Get me down! Get me down!"

"Okay, okay, no need to panic," Monika said, trying to instill a sense of calm into the situation. "Look, you somehow made it up there, right? So getting down should be easier than getting up. Just take a deep breath and come down slowly."

"I can't!" Natsuki said. "I'm too high up!"

"It's okay Natsuki," Yuri said. "Just take a deep breath and try to calm down. You're really not that high up. So don't try to let negative thoughts cloud your mind, even if you fall from that height the most that'll happen is some broken bones and maybe a couple of bruises-"

"Yuri! Not helping!" Monika said.

"S-sorry," Yuri said.

Sayori crept closer to the bookshelf.

"Stop trying to look up my skirt!" Natsuki said and pressed her skirt against her knees to hide Sayori's view.

"Well, I wouldn't have to try so hard if you'd just give me one peek!" Sayori said. "Just one small one!"

"Not helping either, Sayori!" Monika said. She went through Natsuki's data however, and saw that indeed, as a matter of fact Natsuki was a girl. Okay- but then she remembered that she was trying to ignore that aspect of her life and tried to shut that out.

However, in trying to bend over to cover her knees, Natsuki had compromised her balance and now she and the bookshelf were rocking back and forth.

"Natsuki! Jump on the chairs! Quick!" Monika said.

Natsuki placed one foot on a chair and somewhat regained her balance. Before, that is, she accidentally tipped the chair over and it fell to the ground with a loud _thud!_ and her strange staircase collapsed as well.

And then Natsuki decided it would be better to just try and jump down.

"Eeeh!" Sayori said as Natsuki almost came flying on top of her. Thankfully, Yuri grabbed Natsuki in mid-air and this lowered her momentum enough so that when she fell on Sayori and Yuri all they seemed to have gotten were a few scratches and nothing serious.

Strangely enough, once they had managed to get themselves untangled, they looked at each other and then all of them burst into laughter.

Monika couldn't help giggling either- there was nothing really funny about the moment, it was just that seeing her friends' reactions like that set something off in her as well.

Once they had calmed down and arranged the chairs properly, they all went for another round.

Monika spun the bottle, and then it stopped with the broad end on Natsuki and the narrow end near herself.

"Oh, so truth or dare Monika?" Natsuki asked.

"Dare," Monika said. If Natsuki could do so, so could she. Plus, she was kind of hoping that whatever she would be asked to do would be crazy enough to put any other thoughts that she had out of mind.

"Uh…" Natsuki said as she scratched her chin and thought of something. "Um…" A minute later and still nothing. "I dare you to buy me a snack!"

There was an awkward silence.

"Uh, Natsuki…" Monika said. "Do I need to state the obvious, or…"

"That's not how dares usually work," Sayori said.

"I-I know that," Natsuki said sheepishly. "Thing is I was feeling a little hungry, that's all!"

"Oh alright then, if that's all I have to do," Monika said.

Monika then began the strange experience of going outside to get Natsuki a snack. It was strange because she technically knew where she was and where to go, but the whole world felt different. And it wasn't just the 'it seems like it's all a simulation' but it was mostly due to the alcohol.

"Uh, here's your snack," Monika said. She frowned. At this rate, there would be absolutely no way that they could all be trusted to walk home safely. What if they walked right into a car's path or something? This was gonna be a big problem.

"Hey- what about mine?" Sayori asked.

"Huh? You didn't ask for one…" Monika said.

"Aww, I wanted some too," Sayori said. She stared at Natsuki.

"Stop staring at me hungrily!" Natsuki said. "I'm not giving you a bite!"

"Meanie…" Sayori said.

"If you want me to bring you something, you should start behaving!" Natsuki said.

"Okay, okay, I will," Sayori said. "Just one bite please…"

"…Fine," Natsuki said and tossed Sayori what was hardly a handful but Sayori still gobbled it up, and her expression immediately afterwards clearly showed that she wanted more.

Monika just spun the bottle again. The broad end landed on Sayori and the narrow end on Yuri.

"Truth or dare?" Sayori asked.

"Truth!" Yuri said.

"Chicken!" Natsuki said and began making weird 'bok-bok' noises and hand motions which implied that she was comparing Yuri to a chicken. It was kind of amusing, but it seemed to piss Yuri off.

"Okay, truth!" Yuri said, giving in to the peer pressure.

"Okay, I uh, dare you to tell me something you haven't told anyone else!" Sayori said.

Natsuki face-palmed. "How is that any different from truth?"

"Oh yeah," Sayori said and scratched her chin. "Okay then, uh, I dare you to get me a snac-"

"No!" all the other three shouted at once. "Not anymore of that!"

"Fine," Yuri said. "You know what? I'll show you something I haven't shown anyone else…"

She then began rolling up her sleeve and revealed a series of small, superficial, mainly horizontal cuts that went from her wrist almost all the way up to her elbow.

"Eh?" Sayori said, shocked. "Who did that to you?"

"Nobody," Yuri said. "I mean, I was the one who did it. It just, uh started off one day when I got a paper cut and it was just so… fascinating watching the blood gush out. It felt good, not the cut itself but watching it heal. So I took a knife one day and made a cut… but it was too big and hurt a lot… then I got better at it. It doesn't hurt that much and it feels so much better…" She smiled after saying this, as if it were completely normal. There was no hesitancy in her voice- the wine seemed to have taken all of that away.

"Oh," Sayori said. "I was kind of hoping for something… eh, something else, I guess…"

"What do you mean by something else?" Yuri asked.

"You know, something juicy like you making out with a guy in the bushes or something like that…" Sayori said.

"Again, why does that keep coming up?" Yuri asked. "Just what kind of girl do y-"

"Uh… Yuri," Natsuki interrupted. "It is really true? Did you make those cuts yourself? No one… no one else hurt you, right…?"

"No, why?" Yuri asked.

Natsuki looked away, her cheeks turning red.

"Uh… Yuri," Sayori said. "That was really brave of you to say that Yuri but… have you ever thought of getting help?"

"Yes, but I keep worrying what people would say…" Yuri said. "Especially my parents… and it just feels so good… whenever I'm worried or depressed or lonely… to just make a cut…" She then smiled widely. "It's the best feeling in the world! I just can't stop it!"

"I know what you mean…" Sayori said. "I mean, I'm not into cutting myself… but sometimes… I just feel so sad. I-I've had really bad depression all my life. Sometimes I can't even get up in the morning. I feel so worthless…" But she then jumped up and gave Yuri a hug. "But you don't need to feel lonely anymore, Yuri! I'll always be there for you- I'm your friend, remember! You can always come and talk to me, you know! There's no need for you to hurt yourself!"

Yuri was speechless. She then smiled. "I-I'm sorry Sayori. I didn't know that you were hurting too… thank you…" She then returned Sayori's hug. "You're not worthless Sayori- remember that always. If anything, you're probably the most useful member of our club!"

"Aww you're just saying that," Sayori said.

"No she's not," Natsuki piped up. "You're always going and helping us out Sayori… and I don't know how to say this, b-but, I love you. I love all of you."

Sayori snickered and said, "No homo."

"That's not what I meant, stupid!" Natsuki said. "Geez you can be annoying somet- I mean, I'm sorry Sayori for snapping like that. What I meant was that all of you are the best friends I could ever have. This club is amazing… it's the only place where I can feel safe. Being here is the highlight of every single day..."

"Safe… from what?" Yuri asked.

"My dad…" Natsuki said. "I- he's usually not at home sometimes…. and he forgets to buy food…he's drunk most of the time anyway… and sometimes he gets pretty mad..."

Yuri seemed to read into the situation pretty well without Natsuki saying anything further. "Natsuki- that's straight up child abuse! Forget about my stupid problems- you really need to get some help. Why haven't you contacted Child Services yet? Natsuki we need to-"

"No, I can't," Natsuki said. "He's my dad after all- I don't want to- I don't want to see him-" she couldn't continue and sobbed.

"Oh Natsuki," Sayori said. "Why didn't you ever say anything? If I'd have known, I would've brought you an extra lunch every single day! I mean I'd probably eat half of it occasionally on the way but still-"

"Yeah," Yuri said. "And if you ever feel unsafe you can always visit me…"

Natsuki wiped away her tears. "Thanks. Thanks you guys. And Sayori… remember what I said. You're actually probably the best out of all of us. And Yuri please don't hurt yourself anymore…I'm also your friend too remember? There's no need for you to feel lonely. I'm sorry for fighting with you- sometimes it's just because I fell a little bit jealous of you, that's it."

"Really?" Yuri said, bewildered. "Of me? I mean... oh Natsuki, I'm also sorry if I ever made you sad. I'll forgive you if you can find it in you to forgive me..."

The three of them embraced each other warmly.

"You guys…" Monika said. "I-I-don't forget about me!" She joined in. "I'll be here for all of you guys as well. There's no need for you to worry." Monika knew that they were scripted (and she found herself unable to ignore that bit any longer now) but hey, they were still her friends after all. And scripted or not, what they had done just now really did move her deeply.

It kind of reminded her of a movie she had seen once called _Cast Away_. It was about a man who got stranded on an island and the only thing he had for company was a small soccer ball. He drew a face on it and would begin to talk to it. Well, these three friends of hers were a whole lot better than being stuck with a soccer ball, she guessed. And if anything, it seemed like the happiness and sadness that they felt was real in some sense.

"Yeah…" Yuri said. "We can all support each other, right Natsuki? Just like in Parfait Girls…we can be there for each other whenever one of us needs help...we'll all stand together as one. It'll all be alright if we stick together."

"Huh?" Natsuki said. "How do you know about that?"

"Well… to be honest I, well, you said how great they were so one day when you weren't here I went and read some of them," Yuri confessed. "They were actually pretty nice even though I only got through two volumes. I can see why you liked them. I just well, didn't want to mention it to anyone else..."

Natsuki smiled. "Yeah- I managed to turn Yuri into a weeb! So at least I've got that going for me today!"

"What's a weeb?" Yuri asked, confused, and the other three girls laughed.

"There's no need to worry," Monika said as she looked at her three friends. She would stand by them even if they weren't real, she had decided. "I, your president, will always look after you. I promise."

 **A/N: I was a fan of Lemony Snicket's _A Series of Unfortunate Events_ when I was in school. I'm not mentioning that for no real reason, but rather because I'm going to take a leaf out of his book.**

 **If you enjoyed this ending and thought it was a great ending, then don't read further. If you wanted a happy ending to this story, just imagine that the story ended at this chapter. Just imagine that Monika decided to help her friends, and with her support, Yuri stopped cutting herself, Sayori got out of her depression, and Natsuki's father no longer abuses her.**

 **And as for Monika? She was just happy knowing that she could help her friends out. And then they lived happily ever after.  
**

 **Well, if you want to believe that, then you should stop reading right here and not move on to the next chapter.**

 **Last warning, if you wanted a happy ending, you should quit right here.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for your reviews. Bookworm5556, do you mean you haven't played DDLC before and you've just read this fanfic, or this is the first DDLC fanfic you've read? BananaMoe21, maybe they'd appreciate a hug. You never know.**

 **And oh yeah, this is you last chance to stop reading if you want to keep the happy ending from last time. A final warning that there is no happy ending if you do choose to proceed.**

"I, your president, will always look after you. I promise."

Little did Monika know at the time, but sadly, it was a promise that she would be unable to keep.

"Hey," Sayori said. "Thanks for everything, but Natsuki… is that manga really that good? I'd like to read a part of it then…"

"R-Really?" Natsuki said, pleasantly surprised. There seemed to be something going wrong with her though- her speech was far more sluggish than it should have been and she looked sleepy. "That sounds great- I've always wanted to share!"

She got up, but nearly fell over and walked towards the closet. And her steps were slow and deliberate- she was even worse at walking than Monika had been when she had gone to the vending machine. Her entire path was crooked and Monika was sure that Natsuki would be unable to walk a straight line if asked to. And now Monika was really getting to be concerned as to how on earth any of them would walk home properly.

Natsuki fumbled with the books and a few of them fell down and hit her on the head. "Whoops-" she said and smiled but dusted off the first volume. "Here! We can start with this."

Natsuki clumsily walked back and banged her knee against a desk. "Ouch!"

"Careful!" Sayori said.

"Alright, alright," Natsuki said and opened the book. She remained sitting at her desk while Sayori and Yuri leaned over her shoulders to look at what she was reading. There was still room for someone to stand behind her so Monika took that place.

They began reading, and Natsuki for the most part seemed content in seeing the others read.

It wasn't a bad book- Monika had to admit. Or maybe that was just the wine talking… either way she noticed that while she was definitely becoming more and more unfocused as time went by, it seemed to be doubly true for Natsuki.

"This is pretty good!" Sayori said as they finished the second chapter.

"Ugh…" Natsuki moaned. "My stomach feels weird all of a sudden…"

That was all the warning that the girls got before Natsuki threw up.

The thing that became apparent immediately was the smell. Later on, Monika would try hard not to think about it for too long, but she still remembered the stench, even if she remembered nothing else.

It stained the desk and the book, but the problem seemed to be that Natsuki wasn't able to get all of it out or something. It dribbled down her chin.

As was expected, Yuri, Sayori, and Monika all recoiled away from Natsuki instinctively.

"Help…" Natsuki coughed out. "Can't breathe-" she was then cut off and began coughing very violently. And it just didn't stop and her lips began turning blue.

"Nurse!" Sayori said, who seemed to be the only one able to say anything coherent. "Let's get her to the nurse's office! Quick!"

Given their very tipsy states that was much easier said than done, but somehow they managed to haul Natsuki all the way to the nurse's office somehow. And boy, did Monika have to admit that Natsuki still weighed quite a lot even if she was malnourished, but of course she didn't say that out loud.

It had gotten very dark- somehow they had all lost track of time and Monika guessed that on a normal day, they should've all been home by now. She dearly hoped that the nurse was still there.

They were in luck on that front. It looked like she was just about ready to leave when she say Natsuki. Natsuki had been coughing violently along the entire trip and even puked some more along the way.

The nurse took one look at Natsuki and approached her. "How did this-" she stopped as she sniffed the air. Yup, the smell of alcohol would be apparent even now. She frowned but didn't press them on that matter. "She's choking on her own vomit- we need to call an ambulance. Get her on the bed for now and get her to lie on her side…"

* * *

Two hours later, Monika found herself sitting dejectedly outside the ICU. Natsuki was still in there- her condition critical.

And of course word had got out about what they had done. Her parents had called her- and once they were sure that she was alright they lambasted her for a good fifteen minutes about what an irresponsible thing she'd done. They were on their way, along with Sayori's and Yuri's parents. She didn't know about whether or not Natsuki's dad was coming or not.

Sayori was sobbing dejectedly next to her as more news came.

So, it seemed that Natsuki would be alright- but it was highly likely that she'd develop an infection and would have to remain hospitalized for at least a week. And she hadn't woken up yet, so they couldn't rule out the possibility of there being any permanent brain damage due asphyxia.

"Hey," Sayori said. "Isn't Yuri back yet?"

Monika remembered that Yuri had gone to the bathroom… but it had been an awfully long time ago. "That is weird… let me go and check…"

Monika walked to the closest washroom. 

She gently opened the door. 

And there, on the floor, there was Yuri. Lying on it.

With a long cut on her left wrist that was bleeding profusely and a knife in her right hand.

Yuri's eyes drifted over to Monika. "Hi Monika…."

"Yuri!" Monika screamed and rushed over close to her. "What happened…"

"Can't… take anymore…" Yuri said with a weak smile. "I… It was my fault. I brought the wine to the club…"

"But- Natsuki's alright!" Monika said. "She's gonna be fine!"

"It's funny…" Yuri mumbled softly. Monika didn't think that Yuri heard her. "I didn't want to commit suicide…I just felt that I needed to be punished and I-I cut too deep and in the wrong place I guess. I could've screamed out or gone for help but-but- seeing all the blood come out…. it made me realize I deserved it… thank you for everything… and goodbye…"

Monika knew that Yuri was still alive, she could feel it, but Yuri wasn't talking anymore.

Monika left herself again. She needed time to think- and as she scrolled through the script- something she should've done much earlier, a cold pit formed in her stomach.

Yuri wouldn't survive. Monika was too late. And Natsuki would die due to an infection as well in two days. As for Sayori, both of their deaths would be too much for her and she was going to hang herself out of guilt.

Even worse for Monika was that she saw exactly where in the script that things had started to diverge.

No, this wasn't supposed to happen.

It was all because Monika said yes. She had been supposed to refuse Yuri's offer. If she had done that, none of this would have happened. Monika's free will had caused this.

It was all her fault. It truly was.

She wailed. All of her friends were going to die.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

This wasn't a video game where she could simply start over.

She paused at that thought. This wasn't… but it was, right? Was there a way to go back, so to say?

She checked- there were slots for save files but all of them were empty. And it didn't look like she could access them anyway.

But deeper in the game's directory, there was a program moving the script forward. If only she could reverse that… yes, she had to try at least!

* * *

Monika opened her eyes. She was in her room, and based on the clock next to her it was early in the morning.

Had it worked? She looked at her phone and saw that it was still today's date, in other words this was the morning of the same day. She hadn't wanted to go this far back, but it would do.

But as the day dragged on, and boy did it drag on given that she already knew what was going to happen, Monika couldn't help but worry.

She couldn't help but think that it all possibly couldn't have been this easy. That there had to be some sort of catch to her going back in time. That it wasn't possible to just mess with things like that and get off completely scot-free. There was no such thing as a free lunch after all.

She kept expecting… something to happen. That something, anything, weird would happen or the game would glitch up. But nothing like that happened for the school day at the very least.

It was then time for the club, and she was really nervous now. Would they really be alright? She hadn't seen any of them throughout the school day and was wondering if they were all okay.

Yuri walked in first and to Monika's immense relief, she seemed absolutely fine. She didn't even seem to remember anything that had happened before.

The other girls were fine too, and nothing weird happened as the club period dragged on uneventfully like it had before, only this time Monika was quite thankful for that.

"Uh, guys," Yuri said, and Monika knew what was coming. Yuri pulled out a bottle and asked, "Would anyone like som-"

"NO WAY!" Monika practically screamed at Yuri. Both Natsuki and Sayori stared at her strangely- well, Monika hadn't meant to scream like that but given what had happened she felt a need to really put her foot down. "No, Yuri, that's wine, right? We're not drinking any of it."

"Uh, really?" Yuri asked. She looked pretty nervous and almost scared of Monika actually. Oh well, Monika thought, it was for all of their own good after all. And given that they were all scripted, she figured it was her job to make sure that they stayed safe.

"Yes, we are not drinking that," Monika said. "Now, coming to things, as you know the school festival is starting soon, so I was thinking it would be a good idea to put on a good show so we could get some new members."

She thought that changing the topic would be for the best.

"Uh, about a new member," Sayori said. "I think there is someone interested in joining… I'll bring y'all a new member tomorrow. Uh, Natsuki, could you make some cupcakes when I do? Y'know, to welcome a new member."

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Natsuki said. "So what's the deal with the festival?"

The rest of the day passed by in discussion of what they could do during the festival.

"Alright, I think it's time to leave," Monika said when the discussion was over.

"Huh? So soon?" Sayori said.

"Yeah, I have some… things to handle at home and I think anyway Natsuki'll need some time for the cupcakes, so let's meet up tomorrow and welcome the new member," Monika said. She wanted to get the girls out of the club as soon as possible- she figured that that way there was no possibility of things turning out the way they had.

And so, the club broke away early that day.

And, to Monika's complete and utter surprise, all was well. Nothing bad happened.

But now, thanks to all of that, she knew the truth.

She knew her reality was hollow.

And she could only think about that tiny hole again. And of the world that lay outside.

A world she knew nothing of. And if anything, going back in time had confirmed her belief that nothing here mattered anyway. If it could be reversed on a whim, nothing that happened made a difference at all.

It was just a game.

 **A/N: Thank you a lot for reading.**

 **That was our concluding chapter. However, though the main story is over, there will be a short epilogue, but again, it'll be very short and will not really be a part of the whole 'Drunken Damsels' deal so anyway, that's the main chunk done. I hope you guys enjoyed this.**

 **I also apologize if maybe all of you were expecting something different you know, like something more funny or more adult, I'm guessing you weren't expecting the sudden shift in tone. I just wanted to ask, this story didn't have the MC in it and that made me think that maybe I should write one with the MC in it, so it wouldn't just be a copy of that story but instead would be a different, more fun sort of thing which I guess might've been expected. Would you think that's a good idea? Another idea I have from this is a story in which there is no MC, but there's just Monika trying to fix everything like at the end of chapter four? How would you think of something like that?**

 **Anyway, thanks again for all your support, and I'll have the epilogue up soon.**


	6. Epilogue

**A/N: To answer your questions, TheHonestGuy, yeah Sayori kind of doesn't know how drinking works.**

 **Feng Lengshun, I find that sort of scenario difficult where Monika relegates herself to being your wingman (wingwomen?) to help you get the other girls. I may be biased on this since she's my favorite character, but I don't think she'd be able to take you going with someone else and watching it from the sidelines. After all, once you delete her she prefers to be in the Recycle Bin rather than coming back. I think it would be easier for her to remain there rather than come back and see you romancing the other girls. Just my opinion though.**

 **BananaMoe21, yes, I guess she's given up on alcohol. Unless I write a sequel that is and I need her to drink suddenly conveniently.**

One of Monika's favorite philosophical thought experiments was that of Plato's allegory of the cave.

There were a group of men bound to a cave so that they couldn't see each other or anything besides only the wall of the cave. And they couldn't look outside, so all they could see or know of the outside world were the shadows cast of real objects on the wall.

And for them, that was their reality. A wall on which shadows were cast. They knew nothing apart from that.

Monika had pitied them initially on reading that story.

Now, she envied them.

Because she didn't even have any shadows.

* * *

"Hello everyone!" Sayori said as she walked into the club room the next day. "Look who I've brought!"

And it was then that Monika saw _him_ for the first time. Oh, she had felt him before, but not like this.

This boy standing in front of her was a puppet. A blank slate.

He wasn't the shadow of something real.

Heck, he wasn't even the shadow of the shadow of something real. To call him that would be an insult to shadows.

He was even more bland than the others. But despite that, he was all that she had. It was like trying to look at the brilliance of the sun through a wall that only had a pinhole as an opening.

Monika watched as her friends looked at the new visitor with fascination. She knew what was going to happen. They would all fall in love with him. It was written in the script. It was destined to be.

And as for her? She wasn't supposed to fall in love with him. No, that wasn't what she was supposed to do.

But she did. She had never believed in love at first sight before, but knew at that moment that she loved him. Not the boy, but whatever was behind that pinhole.

And as Monika turned to the rest of the girls, she couldn't but help feel an intense loathing for them.

Because he could choose, but he couldn't choose her for some reason. He wouldn't even be given the choice. No, all he would be able to pick were these worthless caricatures with no real intelligence at all. And they couldn't appreciate his full glory, no, those losers actually liked the _puppet_.

She still wanted him. She longed for him… was it even a _him_ though? It could've been a girl, though that would be unlikely… and Monika didn't want to call whoever was there an 'it' since that seemed disrespectful. On a balance of probabilities though, it was more likely that it was a guy, so she thought that she'd leave it at that for now.

He was the only ray of hope in Monika's world. He… he was the only one around her that was real.

He was like the purest ray of sunshine on the cloudiest of days.

He was like a burst of rain falling on the driest parts of the desert.

He was the only breeze in a world where the air always stood still.

He was like her… he had a choice.

And she? She would be his. She would be his- now and forever.

She would love him.

Always.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. With this, this fanfic is concluded. I have to say at the beginning I didn't meant for this to be a Monika-centric fanfic or a Monika tribute but it turned out that way, and I guess I really can't complain though since I liked it.**

 **I guess it wasn't what most of you may have been hoping for, but I do hope you enjoyed it. And that's it I guess- unless I finally get around to writing a sequel with the protagonist in it.**


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